Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Saturday, September 22, 2007

This might be considered somewhat off-topic but does seem to resonate with women's basketball.

You may have been following the story of Anucha Browne Saunders. A native of Brooklyn, she played great basketball at Northwestern. After school, her business career took her to Eastman Kodak and IBM. In 2000, she was recruited to work as the Knicks' vice-president for marketing by Madison Square Garden president Steve Mills. In 2002, she was promoted to senior VP.

Last year, Browne Saunders was fired by James Dolan, MSG's chairman. She claims it was in retaliation for her complaints about Knicks president Isiah Thomas' behavior. She filed a $10 million suit in federal court Thomas and MSG accusing Thomas of sexual harassment. To the surprise of some, the case has made it to court, and featured plenty of unflattering testimony from Stephon Marbury, Dolan, Mills and Thomas (not to mention some possible Rangers-related dirt).

All argued against Browne Sanders' accusations, except for Jeff Nix. Over the last 15 years, Nix had worked himself up the Knicks power-ladder from advance scout to assistant general manager.

Adrian Wojnarowski (who really caught my eye with his beautiful work covering Maggie Dixon's death) reflects on what the trial -- whatever the outcome -- reveals about those who rule the Garden. It's an uncomfortable read, especially if you consider that this is the management responsible for the New York Liberty. Writes Wojnarowski:
As little respect as most league owners and executives have for Dolan, Thomas and the Garden, it will be fascinating to see how many admire Nix for doing the difficult thing, for sacrificing a career on principle, and how many still subscribe to the locker room code that says siding with a female marketing V.P. over the top basketball executive and coach is a move of weakness, even treachery. No matter how disdainful the alleged behavior with Thomas, in some corners, there's still the belief that Nix should've protected one of his own – a basketball guy.

Do you think that Thomas ever had to truly deal with a tough, determined woman in his professional life? Listen, she didn't get along with everyone at the Garden. That's a fact. She wanted players to be made available for marketing endeavors, and coaches wanted them to concentrate on winning games. That's the push and pull of every front office. Still, no one ever did bully Browne Sanders, a former All-American player at Northwestern. Just remember something: By and large, there are two areas with which women are generally most familiar to pro players: gyrating half-naked on the court during timeouts, and standing by the bank of elevators in the hotel lobby.
Where are they now? Browne Sanders is overseeing non-revenue sports at the University of Buffalo and Nix, fired by the Knicks in August, is looking for a new job.